Environmentally conscious neighbors now have a way to recycle their food waste and benefit a local school. Fittingly launched on Earth Day, local start-up Turn Compost offers patrons a subscription where they can put their organic food waste into a receptacle that is picked up and used to feed local animals at organizations like Urban Chicken Inc. and the Texas Worm Farm, whose worms eat food waste and create compost.

The USDA says that 30-40 percent of food is wasted, totaling 133 billion pounds and $161 billion. The City of Dallas says that 30 percent of what goes into local landfills is compostable food and yard waste. The EPA says that 21 percent of all trash is food materials.

Founders Aguedo Jacobo and East Dallas neighbor Lauren Clarke met in a culinary class at El Centro’s Food and Hospitality Institute and hope to bring the service to residents, businesses and restaurants in East Dallas zip codes 75214, 75206 and 75204. Subscribers put their food waste into Turn’s buckets, which are picked up from homes. Subscriptions also include finished compost and local goods delivered to your door.

If the subscriber wishes, the compost can be donated to local organizations. Lakewood Elementary’s garden will be one of the recipients of the donated compost.

Turn also contracts with commercial businesses like restaurants that want to do more to help the environment. Clarke hopes they will take up the call to go greener. “We are kind of behind the curve relative to some more progressive cities,” she says.

“We’re passionate about connecting different pieces of the local food cycle and providing a comprehensive service that makes it easy for residents and businesses to do the right thing,” Clarke said via media release.

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